1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, and a control method for controlling the operation of the information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer is equipped with a disc drive unit that drives removable media such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and a CD (Compact Disc).
The disc drive unit includes an eject button for ejecting removable media. When the eject button is operated, a tray loading mechanism of the disc drive unit operates to open the disc tray. This enables the user to remove/change the removable media.
However, while no power is being supplied to the disc drive unit, the tray loading mechanism cannot be operated. In the case where the personal computer is powered off, no power is supplied to the disc drive unit. Thus, in the state in which the personal computer is powered off, the removable media cannot be removed/changed.
To solve this problem, in most of disc drive units, an emergency eject mechanism is provided for forcibly opening a disc tray while no power is supplied to the disc drive unit. However, in order to operate the emergency eject mechanism, it is necessary to give a push into an eject hole by means of a tool. Thus, the emergency eject mechanism is not satisfactory in terms of operability. In addition, in the case of a slot-in type disc drive unit that has no openable disc tray, it is difficult, because of the loading structure, to provide the disc drive unit with an emergency eject mechanism that forcibly eject media.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-149689 discloses a disc drive unit having a function of supplying an activation signal to an external power supply circuit when an eject button is pressed. If the eject button is pressed, power is automatically supplied to the disc drive unit to open the disc tray.
In the technique of KOKAI 11-149689, however, it is necessary to provide the disc drive unit with a special interface for supplying the activation signal to the external power supply circuit. This leads to an increase in cost of the disc drive unit. In the field of personal computers, there is a demand for realizing the use of disc drive units having standard interfaces. It is necessary, therefore, to realize a novel function that enables ejection of removable media without using a special disc drive unit.